Jaguars Head Coach Search: Pros and Cons to Todd Monken's Candidacy

The Jacksonville Jaguars find themselves in a familiar spot in 2025: looking for a new head coach.

Jaguars owner Shad Khan has gone through five head coaches in 13 years, with each of Mike Mularkey, Gus Bradley, Doug Marrone, Urban Meyer, and Doug Pederson all coming up short in the process.

With the Jaguars search for their next coach now up and running, we are going to take a look at what each candidate brings to the table, their backgrounds and what potential drawbacks could be to their candidacy.

We have already talked about Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen. and Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

Now, we move onto Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

Background

Grand Valley State (1989-1990): Graduate assistant

Notre Dame (1991-1992): Graduate assistant

Eastern Michigan (1993-1997): Defensive backs and wide receivers coach

Eastern Michigan (1998-1999): Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach

Louisiana Tech (2000): Running backs and wide receivers coach

Louisiana Tech (2001): Wide receivers coach

Oklahoma State (2002-2004): Passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach

LSU (2005-2006): Passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach

Jacksonville Jaguars (2007-2010): Wide receivers coach

Oklahoma State (2011-2012): Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks

Southern Miss (2013-2015): Head coach

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016-2017): Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2018): Offensive coordinator

Cleveland Browns (2019): Offensive coordinator

Georgia (2020-2022): Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach

Baltimore Ravens (2023-Present): Offensive coordinator

Pros

While Lamar Jackson won an MVP under Greg Roman earlier in his career, there is zero questioning that Monken is the coach who has truly unlocked Jackson and his potential. Jackson is the likely MVP of the season, which would make back-to-back MVPs under Monken's tutelage. That is a heck of a cap in his feather.

Monken also brings vast experience in terms of the amount of positions he has personally coached. He has been a quarterbacks, running backs and wide receiver coach in his career and has showed the ability to develop players at a number of positions.

Monken is a known football lifer and has proven he can develop a high-level functioning offense at both the college and NFL level. Thanks to his college pedigree, there should be no concerns about his ability to relate to younger players and aid in their developments early on in their NFL careers post-college.

Cons

Like most of the coaches the Jaguars are set to speak with about their head coach role, Monken does not have experience as an NFL head coach. Unlike most of the other candidates on the list, however, Monken does have an extensive background in the NFL that began nearly two decades ago.

Some coaches are late bloomers, but it is worth wondering why Monken has not been already given the nod. Sometimes it just does not happen for a coach for a variety of reasons, but the reality is that Monken is now being given head coach consideration only after he crossed paths with a potential three-time MVP.

That is the other part of the equation. Monken and Joe Brady are the two coaches on the Jaguars' candidates list who are coaching bonafide elite quarterbacks. Monken deserves credit for helping Lamar Jackson reach this level of his playing career, but it is worth wondering what Monken can do without him under center.

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